Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! Christmas Day dawned bright and sunny but chilly. Air temp at 8 AM was 42F water temp 54 F not cold to some but after a couple of hours I was so stiff could hardly turn. Surf was waist to chest with occasional head high sets and a light Santa Ana offshore. Kind of walled with a combo of Harvey Wallbanger pier bowls and some Sucide rights into the breakwall.

Got some perfect weather for Christmas morning... sun! Still a bit chilly with the 3/2... Sardi was small but clean, nice and peaky with some decent shoulders to be had. Took one left that just barely cleared the rocks at the beginning of Primera.

Really clean stuff, fun and fast with several take off peaks. Very light and mellow crowd. It was 3 to 6, just a little inconsistant until the tide dropped. That day was just clean and fun, very easy to rip a huge bottom turn and then blast off the top. Down the line long waves. The wind never came up all day. I sent in some pix for everybody to enjoy.

Session:

Estero is really one of the best waves in Esmeraldas!!!... You just need to go in the good season waves... in the south-west sweel while the level of power is better... for the wind it is always good because this beach is in the middle of two mountains... the people are really friendly and welcoming... in this village you dont have any hostal or hotel... but the bus is available all day long from Esmeraldas to Estero (1 hour), and from Estero to Mompiche (anothe hour)... it is posible to camp on the beach and nothing to be afraid of... if possible, talk with Fermin, he is a nice local guy always ready to help you out..

Surfed by train from Colombo - Hikka, tuk-tuk (Rs200) to Royal Beach Hotel w/ Kumar and Sumith. Locked boardbag to lounge chair at restaurant and surfed. Multiple sea turtle sightings! Tide was coming up, flat coral and rock bottom over neck deep, walkable coral. Wind picked up around 2, also went from 2-3 guys out to 7-8 by then. Met guys in lineup from France and South Africa. Showered in restaurant bathroom, beer/ coke/ special fried rice and back home!

Ray Bay was small but clean this morning, pix coming, in the meantime enjoy:

Is it Safe?

Now you have all heard of Marathon Man how about Malathion Man?

A friend of mine (who's name shall remain anonymous) after having survived
his ex-wife slipping arsenic or something into the sugar, may have poisoned himself.

The said friend noticed some nasty bugs on his prized herbage, thought to spray them with Malathion, which did kill the bugs, however after smoking the leaves he now complains of diarrhea and stomach pains ... is it safe?

I remember the Paraquat Pot scare back in the day ... we actually sold it!

"During the late 1970s, a controversial program sponsored by the US Government sprayed Paraquat N,N′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride on Marijuana fields in Mexico. (Since much of this marijuana was subsequently smoked by Americans, the US government's "Paraquat Pot" program stirred much debate and was eventually banned.)

According to the Center for Disease Control, ingesting paraquat causes symptoms such as liver, lung, heart, and kidney failure within several days to several weeks that can lead to death up to 30 days after ingestion. Those who suffer large exposures are unlikely to survive. Chronic exposure can lead to lung damage, kidney failure, heart failure, and oesophageal strictures. Accidental deaths and suicides from paraquat ingestion are relatively common. For example, there have been 18 deaths in Australia from paraquat poisoning since 2000."

Malathion was used in the 1980s in California to combat the Mediterranean Fruit Fly at the time there were reports of paint damage to automobiles in the sprayed areas. Malathion was also sprayed to combat West Nile virus. In the Fall of 1999 Long Island was sprayed with several pesticides, one of which was malathion. It was claimed that use of these pesticides caused a lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, however there is as of yet no conclusive evidence to support this. Malathion is also used in industrial solvents and cleaning compounds.

Malathion in low doses (0.5% preparations) is used as a treatment for head lice, body lice, and scabies. It is claimed to effectively kill both the eggs and the adult lice.

Malathion itself is of relatively low toxicity; however, absorption or ingestion into the human body readily results in its metabolism to malaoxon, which is substantially more toxic. Chronic exposure to low levels of malathion have been hypothesized to impair memory. Acute exposure to high levels of malathion will cause body-wide symptoms whose intensity will be dependent on the severity of exposure. Possible symptoms include skin and eye irritation, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, seizures and even death. Most symptoms tend to resolve within several weeks."

Got to the piers only to see no water from the N wind and full moon tide! Seemed a bit bummed as it was glasssy and 1ft! But perked up when the outside waved good morning with a chest high set. My friend was crusin on my 7'6... I had no problems on my 6'3. However, there was no room for error catching any bit of rail or stalling the push through the turns (no room for a bottom turn around the wash)By 8 the best sets were slow to come and my friend left for work, so I worked the funboard for a bit and managed to get some great rides and lot of smooth turns. By 10 the waves were rollin over the sandbar and wedgin on the pier.

the best time i have been out at island, caught a wave onto the island and as i paddled back out, nice 4-5ft set waves come, i crap my pants, swam through them eventually after near;y drowning, but yeah it was good

Update: Water is still warm for this time of the year, however that could change overnight, all you need is is a big NW upwelling and it could drop from 62F to 52F.

It is amazing how every degree under 60 F just feels so much colder!

Went out in the River at Ray Bay this morning with a couple from the US Ski Team enjoying the holiday break riding SUP's. The girl was short and stocky and had legs like a NFL running back, no wonder she loves Moguls! She pulled a Snowboard move as she paddled into a peak, instead of switching hands to sweep, she jumped around!

It was small and clean, but that is going to change this weekend, decent swell on its way!

Blackies with King Oscar

11/17

It's a beautiful morning in the neighborhood ... sunny and warm 72F air 64F water with a light offshore, but no swell, just ankle snappers and the water full of bait fish, you could smell the little buggers. King Oscar where are you. Caught a couple of little nose rides and the guys hanging out drinking coffee all came out!